Cottage Grove, OR (WBZ Newsroom) -- One of Massachusetts’ most wanted fugitives, was captured Monday night after he tried to outrun police along a railroad track in Cottage Grove, Oregon, culminating an intense manhunt by Massachusetts State Police, United States Marshals, and local police in Oregon.
The arrest of the 36-year-old Michael Bresnahan comes nearly a year after police say he terrorized and sexually assaulted a 61-year-old woman after forcibly entering her home in Winchendon.
Massachusetts State Police had shifted their search for Bresnahan to the Pacific Northwest after he was spotted in a Springfield, Oregon, Wal-mart, and later on a nearby interstate, on the night of Aug. 2. Bresnahan was again featured on the television program "America’s Most Wanted" on Saturday, Aug. 16. A day later, on Sunday, viewers of the show recognized him after he allegedly stole beer from a Safeway convenience store in Cottage Grove, Oregon.
On Monday local police received a tip that Bresnahan had been spotted walking along railroad tracks and arrested at gunpoint after trying to escape. He's to be arraigned as a fugitive and will eventually be returned to Massachusetts, where he will be arraigned in Worcester County.
Bresnahan was wanted for breaking into the Winchendon home of his victim, a former school teacher, early on the morning of Aug. 30, 2007. Armed with a knife, he held her against her will for more than two hours while assaulting her.
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